Judges 18:11
in Judges 18So six hundred Danites departed from Zorah and Eshtaol, armed with weapons of war.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And there set forth from thence of the family of the Danites, out of Zorah and out of Eshtaol, six hundred men girt with weapons of war.
KJV
And there went from thence of the family of the Danites, out of Zorah and out of Eshtaol, six hundred men appointed with weapons of war.
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This verse in Judges 18
Commentary
5 notes on this verseSix hundred men - These were not the whole, for we find they had children, etc., Jdg 18:21; but these appear to have been six hundred armed men.
This site's exposition
there went from thence of the family
on Judges 18:11-13
Six hundred armed men is the number the book gives again at 20:47, where six hundred Benjamites are all that live through the war on their own tribe. They pitch behind Kirjath-jearim and the spot keeps the name Mahaneh-dan, the camp of Dan, unto this day. Judges 13:25 names a camp of Dan between Zorah and Eshtaol as the place where the Spirit began to move Samson, and the two notices set that camp in different country without the text reconciling them. Clarke reads this verse as evidence that the Danite migration happened before Samson's lifetime, the last five chapters being an appendix to the book rather than a sequel to chapter 16.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
And there went from thence of the family of the Danites,.... Or families, the singular being put for the plural; for it can hardly be thought that such a number of men, as after mentioned, went out of one family: out of Zorah, and out of Eshtaol; the two places the spies were sent from, and now had returned unto: and upon their report, and at their instigation, and by the encouragement they gave, there were six hundred men appointed with weapons of war; that set out armed from the above places, on the expedition to take Laish.
It was strange that none of their brethren of their own tribe, much less of any other, came in to their assistance; but it was long after Israel came to Canaan before there appeared among them any thing of a public spirit, or concern for a common interest, which was the reason why they seldom united in a common head, and this kept them low and inconsiderable.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
Their journey led them through the territory of Judah, and their first halting place was "behind," that is, on the west of Kirjath-jearim, on a spot called afterwards "the camp of Dan." Prosecuting the northern route, they skirted the base of the Ephraimite hills.
The words behind it
12 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיִּסְע֤וּ | vaiyisu | and they set out | H5265 → | 146 times |
| מִשָּׁם֙ | misham | from there | H8033 → | 834 times |
| מִמִּשְׁפַּ֣חַת | mimishpachat | of [the] tribe of | H4940 → | 303 times |
| הַדָּנִ֔י | hadani | the Danite[s] | H1839 → | 5 times |
| מִצָּרְעָ֖ה | mitzareah | from Zorah | H6881 → | 10 times |
| וּמֵאֶשְׁתָּאֹ֑ל | umeeshtaol | and from Eshtaol | H847 → | 7 times |
| שֵֽׁשׁ־ | shesh- | six | H8337 → | 216 times |
| מֵא֣וֹת | meot | hundred<s> | H3967 → | 581 times |
| אִ֔ישׁ | ʾish | man | H376 → | 1663 times |
| חָג֖וּר | chagur | girded | H2296 → | 44 times |
| כְּלֵ֥י | kelei | weapons of | H3627 → | 325 times |
| מִלְחָמָֽה׃ | milchamah | war | H4421 → | 320 times |
וַיִּסְע֤וּand they set out
vaiyisuH5265 →146 times
מִשָּׁם֙from there
mishamH8033 →834 times
מִמִּשְׁפַּ֣חַתof [the] tribe of
mimishpachatH4940 →303 times
הַדָּנִ֔יthe Danite[s]
hadaniH1839 →5 times
מִצָּרְעָ֖הfrom Zorah
mitzareahH6881 →10 times
וּמֵאֶשְׁתָּאֹ֑לand from Eshtaol
umeeshtaolH847 →7 times
שֵֽׁשׁ־six
shesh-H8337 →216 times
מֵא֣וֹתhundred<s>
meotH3967 →581 times
אִ֔ישׁman
ʾishH376 →1663 times
חָג֖וּרgirded
chagurH2296 →44 times
כְּלֵ֥יweapons of
keleiH3627 →325 times
מִלְחָמָֽה׃war
milchamahH4421 →320 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
About Judges
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.